“OK Google” — Hands-Free, Conversational Search Coming From Google

Google has allowed you to speak your search to it on the desktop and mobile devices for some time, but now it’s going to get smarter — talking back to you and continuing the conversation you started. Google shared details at its Google I/O 2013 developer event today and also in a blog post that’s gone up. The idea is that your devices — smartphone or desktop — will apparently be constantly listening for the “OK Google” command. If you say that, then it knows you want to do a search. That command is already used as part of Google Glass in a similar way (“OK Glass”) — and only works when you actually touch the device. So, it’ll be interesting to see how desktop computers and mobile devices are supposed to be voice activated. But since both are often constantly being touched, it’s likely the microphone will just stay on and listening until there’s a lapse in activity. Speak y...